When I created my Recipe Index for the blog I realized that I haven’t blogged about any sides! How unfortunate. I never really think about them being important enough for their own post. But then I found myself scouring Pinterest and other food websites for side dish ideas. It’s harder than I thought it would be. It’s really not that easy to make a star out of your sides – unless it’s Thanksgiving! I’m going to declare it now – this first Thankgiving of my blog will be celebrated with a week of side dishes! Guess I better get cookin’! But I digress…

My first side dish post is one of my favorites. I don’t do mashed potatoes often, but when I do I always wonder why not. They’re just so comforting. This recipe is actually from my Mom. Well, I added chives for color (food photography is not easy!) and actually had to sit there and measure things out. We normally do this “by feel” but for food blog purposes, I needed to do more than say “add some sour cream”. So, here it is. This particular ingredient list yields 4 side helpings of mashed potatoes.

Mom’s Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 baking potatoes (i.e. Russets)
• 3 tbsp sour cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/8 – 1/4 C milk
• 1 tbsp chopped chives
• S+P to taste

Steps:

1. Peel and cut tomatoes into same size chunks – the smaller the cut the faster they’ll cook. In a pot cover the potatoes with cold water – you don’t need to fill the pot, fill about an inch above the top of the potatoes. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender.
2. Drain potatoes and either return to the pot or put in a large bowl. Add butter, sour cream, and a little bit of milk. Using a hand mixer, mash until potatoes are smooth. Add remaining milk if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (I like a lot of pepper in mine!) Fold in chopped chives.